Magnetic can opener



1953 D. FARIANDATYOS 2,858,604

' MAGNETIC CAN OPENER Filed Dec. e, 1955 INVENTOR. DENIS FARANDATOSORNEYS United States 2,858,604 MAGNETIC CAN OPENER Denis Farandatos, NewYork, N. Y. Application December 6,.1955,.Serialf-No. 551,385.

8 Claims. (Cl. 30--6.4).

I openers and the like which have some form of magnetism operating toreduce the hazards to sanitation. It is another object to improve themagnetic principles of can openers and to accomplish magnetic sanitationwith greater success. A further object is to provide a can opener themagnet and magnetized parts of which are readily dismounted forcleaning.

The above and further objects and novel features of the presentinvention will more fully appear from the following detailed descriptionwhen the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings. Itis to be expressly understood, however, that the drawings are for thepurpose of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of thelimits of the invention. Reference for this latter purpose being hadprimarily to the appended claims.

Fig. l is an elevational view of the novel opener from the side.

Fig. 2 isa section on line 22.

Fig. 3 is a like section with parts moved out of the position of Fig. 2.

Referring now to the drawings, there is illustrated a type of openerwhich is of known construction so far as its cutting apparatus isconcerned; It has a frame which may be attached as at 11 to a wall orother support. The frame is generally vertically arranged and isprovided with a bearing 12, downwardly inclined, which receives the stud13 of a circular knife 14, which is spaced out from the support thewidth of a can edge by the circular abutment 15. A can rotating gear 16is mounted on eccentric 17, which brings the gear against the lip of thecan when the handle 18 is rotated one way, and away from the lip whenrotated the other way, also rotating the gear to turn the can againstthe knife edge. A cap 19, pivoted at 20 on the frame 10, has a part 21which bears against the frame on one side and supports means, to bedescribed, to hold the knife stud in the bearing.

According to my invention, a spring 22 is mounted in the cap piece 19.The spring is of outwardly curved contour at 23 and is provided with abend 24 at its lower end which forms an outwardly directed abutment 25.The bend 24 bears against the outer end of stud 13, when cap 19 is inits lower, closed position, to hold such stud and its cutter 14 in placein bearing 12. A support 26 is attached at its ends 27, 28 to the cap19, projecting outward and providing an aperture between the spring 22and its outer part. The spring 22 is made of magnetizable metal such assteel.

A magnet 29 of generally elongated rectangular shape atent O is providedat one polar end: with a curved: face 30 which fits the curve of spring22, and with a bend below that face. providing an abutment 31 adapted toengage the abutment 25. when the magnet has reached its lowest positionin the support frame 26. The opposite polar end of the magnet isprovided with upper and lower ears or flanges 33, 34'. which act asabutments to prevent accidental disengagement of the magnet from itsmounted position. The magnet may bereadily slipped out of its frame by.moving. the spring contacting endi upwardor downward; -The length: ofthe magnet. and the distance between frame 26 and the spring inoperatingposition is such as to leave the magnet free to pivot up anddown about the arc of part 23, which results in agreater mt tion of itsouter than of its inner end.

In operation-one pole of: themagnet magnetizes the knife 14, throughspring 22, while the other pole: drops down: into contact with thecantop at a place spaced from the knife, or at lea'stintoattractive-proximity totthe can top. Thus, the magnet magnetizes theblade with one polarity, the center of the can top with another, and theflux travels directly from pole to pole through a path in the can top,which is magnetically efficient, and provided for the magnetic captureof metal scrapings and the sanitary capture of the excised part of thecan. The pivotal mounting of the magnet allows it to compensate for thelevel of the can top during cutting, so that rims of different height orthe warping of the top during cutting do not affect the efiiciency ofthe result. The single magnet energizes both knife and can top, but itsforce is largely restricted to a single short path through the top, sothat the magnetism is not generally distributed with equal forcethroughout the can but is concentrated in the, knife and the path to thepoint of contact of the outer pole with the can top, thus assuring thecapture of the scrapings by the greater magnetic force residing in theknife.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present inventionmay be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it isto be understood that the invention is not limitedto the specificembodiments.

What is claimed is:

1. A can opener having a removable knife adapted to engage the can nearits periphery, magnetizable means engaging said knife to hold it inoperating position, magnetic means having one pole in magnetizingrelation to said magnetizable means, and support means holding saidmagnetic means in such position that the other pole thereof may havemagnetically attractive proximity to the can at a point spaced from saidknife.

2. A can opener having a quick removable knife, means to hold the knifein operating position comprising a spring, a magnet pivotally mounted inmagnetic contact with said spring, and extending from said spring towardthe position occupied by the part of the can being cut.

3. A can opener having a frame with an upright part, a bearing in andoblique to said part, a circular knife havng a stud conforming to saidbearing, lock means comprising a pivotally mounted bar having means toengage one side of the upright part and magnetizable spring means on theother side adapted to engage the knife to hold it in the bearing, saidspring means having a curved outer part ending in an abutment, supportmeans extending out from the bar providing an aperture adjacent thespring means, and magnet means having a curved face fitting the curvedouter part of the spring means, an abutment adapted to engage saidabutment, and spaced abutments adapted to engage said support means,said magnet being thus mounted for vertical motion toward and away fromthe top of the can.

4. A can opener having a frame, a rotatable magnetizable knife, meansmounting the knife on the frame for quick detachment of the knife in anaxial direction, means comprising a retractable magnetizable springclosely overlying the outer surface of the knife to retain the knife inoperative position on the frame, and a magnet pivotally mounted on theframe in magnetic contact with said spring, said magnet extending fromthe spring toward the position occupied by the part of the can beingcut.

5. A can opener having a frame, a rotatable magnetizable knife, meanscomprising a magnetizable spring attached at one end to the frame andextending therefrom in a span closely overlying the outer surface of theknife, and a magnetsupported on the outer end of the span of the spring,one pole of the magnet having magneticcontact with the spring and thusthe knife, and the other pole of the magnet closely overlying the top ofthe can being cut from the can by the knife and extending to a locationappreciably removed from the edge of such can top.

, 6. A can opener as claimed in claim 5 wherein the magnet is asubstantially straight bar magnet and has one end attached to the freeend of the span of the spring.

7. Can opener means having a frame, a circular knife mounted on a shaftrotatably and slidably supported by the frame, a magnet having a surfaceoverlying and in attractive proximity to the location of the part of thecan being excised by the knife, and means mounting the magnet on theframe including spring means in effect pivoted on the frame, engagingthe shaft to hold it in place and supporting the magnet.

8. The can opener means of claim 7 in which the shaft is received in abearing in the frame inclined downwardly toward the location of the cantop.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS LandryAug. 4, 1953

